Administration Beclowns Itself Once Again: Amb. Susan Rice Picks a Fight With Libya's Government Over the Fatal Attack in Benghazi

BOB SCHIEFFER: Was this a long-planned attack, as far as you know? Or what-- what do you know about that?

MOHAMED YOUSEF EL-MAGARIAF: The way these perpetrators acted and moved, I think we-- and they're choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, I think we have no-- this leaves us with no doubt that this has preplanned, determined-- predetermined.

BOB SCHIEFFER: And you believe that this was the work of al Qaeda and you believe that it was led by foreigners. Is that-- is that what you are telling us?

MOHAMED YOUSEF EL-MAGARIAF: It was planned-- definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who-- who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their-- since their arrival.

On ABC's This Week, however, Ambassador Susan Rice directly contradicted Libyan officials and said the attack was not premeditated:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi last week was not premeditated, directly contradicting top Libyan officials who say the attack was planned in advance.

“Our current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous – not a premeditated – response to what had transpired in Cairo,” Rice told me this morning on “This Week.”

...Ambassador Christopher Stevens, along with three other Americans, were killed in Libya following the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Rice said the FBI is examining the attack, saying their investigation “will tell us with certainty what transpired.”

Rice’s account directly contradicts that of Libyan President Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf, who said this weekend that he had “no doubt” the attack was pre-planned by individuals from outside Libya.

Now let's back up a couple of steps. Clear your head. Take a deep breath. And ask yourself:

What would be more likely to prompt a deadly attack on a U.S. Embassy? Incessant grandstanding by Obama about killing Bin Laden and relentless drone attacks that indiscriminately kill -- or a sad-sack YouTube video that no one watched?

Everyone knows that Rice is covering for the president's feckless foreign policy (or lack thereof) and his obvious dereliction of duty (namely, his refusal to regularly attend his daily intelligence briefings).